Damnation and Doom at the Plantation of the Dead. Dead Birds is directed by Alex Turner and written by Simon Barrett. It stars Henry Thomas, Nicki Aycox, Isaiah Washington, Patrick Fugit, Michael Shannon, Mark Boone Junior, Harris Mann and Muse Watson. Music is scored by Peter Lopez and cinematography by Steve Yedlin. 1863 and it's the back end of the American Civil War, a group of Confederate deserters rob their own army's gold being delivered to the bank of Fairhope. Leaving a bloody trail in their wake, the group set off for Mexico but must stop for rest and recuperation at a deserted farm mansion over looking a long dead plantation. With a storm moving in and tempers among the thieves running high, it soon becomes evident that something otherworldly resides at the house and the surrounding area… Dead Birds is a little cracker, a straight to video horror film that to my mind puts to shame some of the big budgeted piles of crap that get released to the multiplexes on a seemingly weekly basis. Of course, horror is very subjective, where along with comedy it forms a pair of genres guaranteed to produce films that will never ever please everyone. Falling into the haunted house sub-genre of horror, Dead Birds, in spite of its unique Civil War period setting, has been lambasted by many a horror fan for not being fresh, that it's a collage of other horror movies. There's some tr…

Dead Birds-Worth a Look, But Not Much More? Great atmosphere, good acting, decent ending twist, so-so plot. Worth a rent but not much more. Not too confusing if you pay attention and like horror movies anyway. I also thought it would be more scary, but the kids were creepy. The hollowed-out eye-sockets were what got me. The score also set a great sense of dread and foreboding. I suppose for a first time director it wasn't absolutely awful. But as I said before, strong performances(especially Isiah Washington and Patrick Fugit), the location(great Southern period "feel"), a very creepy score, and the little twist at the end are what saves this movie from being very mediocre to just plain bad.

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